ITCM 16 - Squall
Inside the Competitor's Mind 16 - Squall I was looking forward to meeting Squall. His French Canadian accent was charming, and his bubbling personality buzzed through the line when I spoke to him on the phone. He was a big fan of motorsports and had offered to take me off-roading in his SxS. The SxS was apparently a cross between a dune buggy and a quad. That seemed like a lot of fun so I was eager to try it out. I drove out to the off-road park he gave me directions to and looked around in awe. It looked remarkably like the Norcal Hobbies Race Place where I met Mantooth for his interview, except that this was life sized. Huge mounds of dirt made banks and inclines, and even a rhythm section. Lots of vehicles drove on, around, and over them. Sounds of the engines rang in the air. “Darynn!” I turned to see a handsome young man I recognized from the picture he’d sent me. “I’m Squall!” He said excitedly as he pumped my hand in greeting. I smiled and gave him a hug. I guess hanging out with MizVirago and Sadie has rubbed off on me. “Come, let’s sit and talk for a while, yes?” He grinned cheekily at me and placed a hand at the small of my back. “I remember that you like this.” Then he mimicked, “Married man, married man.” That made me burst into peals of laughter and he laughed with me. “Oh, naughty, naughty boy!” I admonished him. But it was all just too charming for words. We settled at a table with some coffee and he began to tell me about himself. “My IGN is Squall, and obviously with a name like that, I’ve played a lot of Final Fantasy, FF1 to FFX-2. And the best one is FF8, of course!” He beamed, clearly proud of his favorite character. I laughed. I had done a little research and knew Squall Leonhart as the main protagonist in FF8. He laughed with me, then continued, “So 95% of my IGNs are Squall. I’ve played a lot of mobile games, like Galaxia, and BB1. I’ve played it a lot of games as a f2p, then when I start to use money for the game, I would uninstall it!” He chuckled merrily at that. “I was addicted to them. I tried Brave Frontier later, and the same thing happened. I got addicted and left. I tried Hero Charge next because I love DotA (Defense of the Ancients). I became even more addicted but they had to change the game to make it less like DotA. I guess DotA didn’t like the similarities and they were forced to make the changes.” He shrugged philosophically at this quirk of the business of gaming. “Then I went back to BB1, and got my first legendary. Gathgoic! That’s why I farmed the BB2 Gathgoic to 5*. For the artwork and in memory of my first legendary in BB1. Then in the beginning of November 2014, I got an email inviting me to play the BB2 beta. I wanted to help DeNa make a better Blood Brother game, so I did. Gave them some suggestions and many big, long reports! I was more active in the forum during beta. That’s where I met Bigbadwolf. He played Blood Battalion and he created the first guild, White Dragon Guild. It was the best guild in Blood Battalion. But you know what happened to Blood Battalion.” He looked mournfully at me before continuing. “And then he talked to me about creating WDG, which is the first BB2 guild. During beta, we only had 20 members. And of those 20 members, only 5 still play. When the game was released in January, BigBadWolf stopped playing and left us without saying why. He is still MIA.” He paused, still thinking about his friend. “I hope he is alright. For the guild, we didn’t want to have a guild leader, we wanted us all to be at the same level, since we were all friendly and had started together. But then we started to get a lot of new members. so we added the rank of Elders. The Elders act as guild leaders. We can have 4-6 elders but there are just 5 Elders at the moment.” He began to explain the guild structure, “Our guild is actually like 2 guilds in one. We have an entry guild we call the hatchery. Anyone can be part of WDG in hatchery. Then when someone in hatchery is very helpful, active and respectful, they are promoted to the main guild.” Smiling at me, he said, “I’m really proud of the guild we’ve created. We are doing great in events. I’m also happy to see that WDG is not the only guild. Competition is always fun, and it makes the grind less boring” “I quit BB2 once actually, for like 1.5 months, because the game was taking too much of my time and I was starting to have problem with my girlfriend over it. I was really active in the forum and the guild, and I was also an admin in the BB2 wiki helping Spankie out. Then I spent a lot of money and only got 1x 4/5*, well I got pissed and quit.” He shook his head at the memory. “But I still lurked in the guild and checked on where the game was going. Then DeNA increased the pact rate like crazy for the Moloch event, so I couldn’t resist and got back into playing the game again. Spent the same amount as that time before I left and got over 25+ 4/5* and 5*! So I was back for good. Still playing but in moderation. And I’ve actually found a good balance.” “I really like all the events. There’s something to like in each of them. Dailies are fun, especially when you have a day off and you swipe a reward, easy and quick. Weeklies are fun when you can easily do insane level, so that getting in good rank isn’t as hard. And gauntlets are fun, because it’s more relaxed. I see them as a break. I mean, a 5* for less than 50 sigils? Yes, sir!” He laughed, face lit up with joy and abandonment. “I was in the Milice Canadienne for 7 years, I was 16 when I started, then I did a one year contract in the regular Army. I was also in Vancouver as part of the Olympique Defense. That was really fun! Plus Canada won the gold in hockey. What more could I possibly ask for?” His delight was beguiling. “As for the forum, there are too many trolls and haters. The only time I say anything is when I know the correct answer to a question. I never argue or debate. I think there is a good balance for f2p and p2p. At least for f2p who have been playing since the beginning. But I think it’s a lot harder for a new f2p player, it’s harder to get to the top. But now, with the addition of 1 energy stage, a new player get still get a good commander quickly. So in that sense, it’s faster for new players compared to beta. That was such a grind.” He stopped and looked around. “I think that is all.” He brightened, “Come, I’ll show you my SxS. It is a two seater, sometimes my girlfriend rides with me,” Squall explained as he walked me to it and helped me into it. He got in and buckled up. Then, eyes sparkling with mischievous humor, Squall reached across me to get the seat belt and buckled me in. “We’ll go for a ride now, okay?” “Umm, okay,” Nervous, I reached up and grabbed hold of a bar. “Don’t do anything wild okay?” “But of course!” He smiled at me and took off. I shrieked. He laughed merrily and accelerated, “This is not wild, it is just fast.” The adrenaline began to pump through me. I was beginning to understand what MizVirago meant about the wheelie being the scariest yet the most fun thing ever. This was scary to me, yet I was feeling a thrill like I’d never felt before. Squall grinned at me. “Ready for wild now?” “No!” I clutched the bar even more tightly. “Yes!” He hit a hill, and the SxS flew. I gasped, terrified… yet somehow exhilarated. “As good as an orgasm, yes?” He shouted with laughter. I shot him a quelling glare, “Nothing is as good as an orgasm.” Then I smiled. “But this maybe comes close.” Category:Mizy Category:ITCM